Mesage From Northampton Fire Department

Did you lose a hat?

This hat was left at College Church after the Ward Three Neighborhood Association meeting. It is at the lost & found at College Church.

MEETING LOCATION CHANGED: COLLEGE CHURCH

The special and emergency meeting about the fires will be held at College Church, 48 Pomeroy Terrace on Tuesday, December 29 at 7 PM. Parking is available in the back. The meeting is open to the public but we hope that Ward Three residents will be given preference in seating.

Emergency Meeting Tuesday, Dec 29th 7 PM Re: City Fires

In response to a strong desire expressed by Ward 3 Neighborhood Association board members for a special and emergency meeting about the fires situation, I am calling a meeting for Tuesday, December 29 at 7 p.m. at the World War II Club on Conz Street. The club is donating the use of their large function room so we can start discussing what we might do to help make residents of our ward feel safer and more secure.

Please come to the meeting with ideas about how we can work with ward residents in this time of crisis for us all. Now's the time for everyone to come together to confront this awful situation.

Jerry Budgar

Meeting Minutes December 8, 2009

Ward 3 Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 DRAFT
6 p.m., Bridge Street School Library
Meeting came to order at 6:08 pm.

Present: Fred Zimnoch, Joanne Mackiewicz, Lola Reid, Bob Reckman, Owen Freeman Daniels, Jim Nash, Gerald Budgar, Gloria Parker, Marianna McKim, Lisa DiPiano, Jennifer Remillard, Madeline Weaver Blanchette, Tim Parshall
Absent: Phillip Sullivan

Members of the Public in attendance: Bill Mackiewicz, Councilor Elect Jesse Adams, Arnold Levinson, Michael Bardsley, Councilor at Large, Jeff Dann, Joel Spiro.

00.40
1. Approval of Minutes – Marianna

01.15
-Discussion of board’s opinions about taping meetings and new minutes format
It was agreed that the format of taping meetings was working and that it should continue.
-Review of majority vs. super majority voting and other new bylaw changes
Article 2a and 2b was reviewed and discussed.

07.12

2 Treasurer’s Report – Fred
· EXPENSES: Food, mailing, advert, buzzer $31.69
· DUES: $57. Renewals
· BALANCES: Previous $782.03
· NEW BALANCE: $807.34
· LIST SERVE: for Ward 3ab = 172 added 4 member
· LIST SERVE MESSAGES: for this period = 5



08.00

Update from Bridge Street School Committee – Tim F. (Sent via email)
--had my first budget and property meeting with school committee. The budget picture for schools and the city, is grim
--plans are starting to develop a student-run "video blog" for Bridge Street School, focusing on stories in Ward 3 -- such as the Meadows Clean Up, the cemetery, the school science fair etc. The goal is get 5th graders interested in the school's neighborhood, give the school more exposure and teach kids how to construct a compelling, visual and audio story. Any Ward 3 resident interesting in helping or suggesting story ideas let me know.
-- I go for "School Committee training" in a few weeks for a whole Saturday, to learn about the basic processes and protocols
--No word on the bus loop construction, but I do agree with Bob R. that at the very least there's no $ to make it happen
--I plan to approach the Art's Council this month to inquire about the Bridge Street mural

08:20

Update on website/web communications Owen
A motion was made to renew our domain name at GoDaddy.com for 3 years and we would purchase 'wardthree.org' for one year. This will protect all Ward3 sites. Board unanimously approved motion.

14:20
Report of Committee studying possible Ward 3 veggie garden tour in 2010 – Lisa/Joanne
Confirmed gardens for the tour at this time are a Butterfly, heirloom tomatos garden, Mac and Claudia's and Montview Farm.

17:20
CBDG Consolidated Plan - Owen
The city has to write a new 5 year plan in July that will require input from the community. From Market Street to North Street and from Hawley to Pleasant street are two areas that qualify for federal CBDG funds; a % has to be spent on social services, brick and mortars, etc. Jim, Owen, Lola and Arnie Levinson formed a committee to research and possibly sent up a Ward3 Centric Forum to collect ideas of how to use these funds for material improvements for immediate benefit of residents. Some of this federal money has been committed to paying down the Senior Center’s debt, Bob reports.

25:36
Nominating/Membership Committee Report – Owen
Ways to increase membership – can be postponed to January
Problem: More people willing to be on board then seats. Tim F will be leaving Ward3A seat and becoming Bridge Street School Committee. Marianna will be resigning as secretary in January. Secretary position is open. Full slate will be handled in January. Contact Owen if you wish to make changes in your board seat.

31:46
Monthly Meeting with the Mayor – Topics/People
Procedure for future meetings was discussed. It was agreed that we will give a list of issues and concerns before the monthly meeting which will be held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month @ 4pm.

Discussion at the November meeting:
· Fires in Ward 3- mayor was in consultation with police/fire chief and did not want to go into this in detail.
· Streetlights are dim and replacement cannot be approved the mayor. She thought that community watch was a good idea.
· Capital construction for funding in next 5 years will be used to improve safety for children at pick up/drop off times at Bridge Street School At this time 100,000.00 is earmarked for this project which may include taking land from park. A public process will be held regarding this project.


38:50
· Potholes- Streets on priority list are State, North and Conz Street. Traffic calming measures may include as much as a complete reconstruction over 2 years; there are 170 miles of roadways and a 20mil backlog. There is a drainage issue on Pomeroy Terrace. There is several traffic calming projects in the pipeline.

42:38
· Other items –
1. City school is a valuable tool to learn about city government. Call Karen at Mayor's
2. Citizen police academy is happening; also call Karen. Enrollment could be flexible.
3. We have serious budget issues in city; will be having Ward meetings later in the spring; there is a 2.5 mil hole in 2011.

45:51
Update about the “Dream” mural restoration
Art Council will approve the RFP for the new mural shortly and Hampden, Hampshire Franklin and Berkshire County residents are welcome to submit a proposal. Public art professionals will be on juror to decide who should be given time to give a full blown proposal. There will be a public feedback process with a goal of mural completion by Labor Day.

47:35
Island Road traffic situation update
January 14 is next meeting of OPD meeting where soccer club had petition to amend to eliminate using lot at end of Route 5. No traffic counts and speed monitor were conducted during soccer season. Not much lot usage at the end of road. Soccer Club’s permit expires June 30, 2010.

51:37
Our Involvement Census Count
Tim will get involved with PTO and families; Joel Spiro's responsibility is to help neighborhood groups mobilized to get out and find these hard to find folks to count. These groups are live-in group home arrangements, Smith students, and larger complexes like condos or apartments. Homeless population has to be at a shelter on the date of the census. Chris can do research to find owners of record in buildings. A letter will be sent in March and must be returned in early April. It was agreed that Ward3 would fund door knob informational tags for this purpose. Population census figures helps with federal funding. A more specific plan will be presented to Board in January.

69:20
Rezoning Notifications from WP to SC - 750 people
Letters were sent out to 750 people informing them of the zoning proposal. This notification process is prototype model for City to notify residents and may be a direct result of our letter to OPD requesting a process to notify resident of zoning changes. Proposal will be presented to Planning Board on Thursday at 6:30 about details of proposal. Carolyn will give information session before this meeting.

72:18
Ward 3 Fires/Neighborhood Watch
Well attended by concerned students. We may get involved with a neighborhood watch and Officer Caputo is completing a proposal. Arnie Levinson is the liaison and hopes to have information at next meeting.

74:32
Traffic Calming Committee Update – Lola, Lisa
A meeting was held with Parking Commission on November. They approved the traffic calming application at this meeting. Problem areas: Pomeroy Terrace at field; Ventures/Henry Road; Williams/Holyoke intersection; Holyoke/Pleasant and Hawley.

Solutions;
Bridge painting at Holyoke St Bridge
Community bulletin board by dike; two farms
Street mural at intersection Williams and Holyoke
Alternate side parking; different blocks have different sides
Speed humps; gradual and removal
Roundabout by Ventures field
Tree plantings; tree already planted near Venture
Clean weeds and soil under bridge
Designing a traffic circle at 4way
A sidewalk was fixed on Hawley Street.
Funding of 16,000.00 was released; the must agree on a plan and then meet with DPW.
More work with neighborhood residents in January to get more feedback and get consensus. Put it up on website. Summer should have this project completed.

88:41
Report of Transportation Committee - Owen
· Owen addressed an issue about bikepath were it meets at Woodmont Road. Path hits it at an angle which creates safety issues; no labeling/signage on Woodmont Road; (no crossing). No crosswalk. Owen presented this issue to City’s subcommittee of bike path/pedestrian. City wants the State to pay for some of the signage. Write a formal request to State for formal signage.
· Also there is a ‘No Trucks’ sign on south side of Bradford Street near Bates. Sometimes a trailer truck will take this route. Traffic engineer can only restrict trucks in neighborhood if over 10% of traffic are trucks.

98:46
Update on “Best Practices” Committee- Bob, Lisa
Go to City webpage to see best practices that have been implemented. Bean Farm was a test of best practices; got more public input.

100:00
Discussion about establishing a non-profit organization to acquire land in Ward 3 – Fred/Maddy
If we are to manage Sheldon Field we need to be established as a non-profit corporation for the State of Massachusetts which is sufficient to have this trusteeship. It really is a non profit corporation filed with Secretary of State under chapter 180 paperwork. Maddy will not be giving advice on whether we should be doing this but will help with the legalities of the application. Maddy will file paperwork which is mainly boiler plate language. Chris, Maddy, Fred and Marianna will meet to review the Association’s mission statement and discuss how this application may effect our organization and bylaws.

106:20
Sustainability Committee Update – Jim
Update on Zoning Revisions Committee- Planning board met with all committees; King Street is going to get help from Chamber to look at King Street. Working with Bay State formulate that individual advocate groups for design to help us to rewrite zoning board

Asked that sustainability committee do some fundraising to fund neighborhood design consultant services. These design meetings will be conducted by neighborhood to help residents vision what they like about their houses they live in and streets etc. The results of these meetings will be brought to the zoning revision or planning committee to match zoning with visions of neighborhood and how dense neighborhoods want to be.

118:39
Exit 19 Advisory Committee update
First meeting with Project Advisory Committee or PAC on November 12, 2009 was an overview of project and traffic data was given to committee. Second meeting was a neighborhood walk on Saturday, November 28th around the area including Elwell Recreation Area so they could ‘learn and listen’. It was agreed that traffic volume occurs mostly during peak hours, event related; traffic calming is needed (signage, speed humps, photo enforced speed limits); taking land will be forbidden; new light at southbound ramp was beneficial. We asked that they consider taking incremental measures to correct the situation. On Monday, December 7th, they presented more traffic volume counts on the relation between exit 19 and 20. It appears that a northbound ramp onto Damon Road was unlikely although they hesitated on making evaluations of the data that was presented. They repeatedly stated that safety is a major factor in this project and presented accident data measured in occurrence of injury related accidents. They are also interested in projecting 25 years into the future. A summary of the meetings by Mass Highway will be posted on www.interchange19.org. The PAC subcommittee will hold a meeting on Wednesday, December 16th at 5pm at 374 Bridge Street; all are welcome. Updates of these meetings are posted on our Website.

133:45
Fairgrounds Redevelopment and Letter of Support
Fairgrounds request association to send a letter endorsing the premise that an environmental impact study is not necessary for the Fairgrounds redevelopment project. There are some storm drainage concerns. Storm water would likely be piped offsite, but now there are swails/ditch and emptying areas that will empty near the corner Cross Path/Fair Street. Berkshire Design held separate meeting to talk with neighbors. There are several solutions that are being considered by Berkshire Design. Proposal has been pulled from ConsCom agenda. It will be reworked and presented in January. The Board voted to not act on this request.

154:20
Discussion about Bean Farm – Lisa
Jim stated that the Bean Farm discussion is a sustainability issue. While it is a proposal for a Florence property, it will have a very direct impact on our Island Road neighbors and in a broader sense; it is in area designated as Special Conservancy, the Meadows Plan. It is a discussion about trade offs and the public good for agriculture and recreation.

The Bean property is a 47 acre farm with competing demands on the property: recreation committee looking for soccer and baseball fields; agriculture commission requesting use for agriculture. Town Farm; CSA; Intervale Farm; ConsCom, Agriculture and Recreation departments presented information at a public meeting. 28% of the property is land that can be used for agricultural use. Mike Bardsley reported that the Recreation Department has been talking about this with City since summer. Only a few weeks ago they started to discuss this with agriculture commission. The Recreation Department asked for $$ from CPA and CPA requested that the City come up with a public process to discuss competing demands on this property prior to considering their request for funding.

167:35
Gerry acknowledged that this was Bob’s last meeting as a Councilor and he commended Bob for all his efforts for Ward 3 residents and the establishment of the Association. Michael Bardsley was also recognized as a resident of Ward3A and more importantly all of his support with the meadows project and Ward3 concerns over the years.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

JFK to Host Holiday Craft Fair Sunday Dec 13th

The JFK Northampton Middle School PTO will be hosting a Holiday Craft/Vendor Fair on Sunday, December 13th, 10 AM to 3 PM (Snow date is December 20th) at JFK. Complete your holiday shopping and support the JFK PTO at the same time.
Enjoy raffles, food and more!

W3NA I-91 Subcommittee Minutes Dec 3, 2009

MINUTES OF THE WARD THREE ASSOCIATION’S I-91 SUBCOMMITTEE
The Ward three neighborhood association’s I-91 subcommittee met on Thursday, December 3rd at 8 AM

Present were Frank Werbinski, Christine Cahillane, Marianne McKim, Joanne Mackiewicz, and Jerry Budgar.

The committee discussed traffic calming steps that would not require major construction, however, could be effective in the project area. They included; 1. Signage on I-91 before exit 19 to indicate when there is a major function in the area that delays may be expected at exit 19, and to use alternate routs. 2. The use of speed bumps along route 9 and other areas within the project area. 3. Painting merge arrows and signs n the pavement around the intersection of Route 9 and Damon Road. 4. Photo enforced speed limits in the area.

The committee then discussed communication with the project team. Frank agreed to email Marcy Miller with the following questions.

1. Will PAC receive a list of all PAC members with there email addresses?

2. Will PAC receive detailed analysis of the recent traffic counts and accident data before next Mondays PAC meeting?

3. Will there be minutes of the PAC meetings?

4. Can we get the names of the Project Team attendees that were at the neighborhood walk?

The next meeting of the I-91 subcommittee will be held on Wednesday December 16th at Frank’s home, 374 Bridge Street.

The meeting adjourned.

Frank Werbinski

Councilor-Elect Angela Plassmann holds her first office hours Sat Dec 12

Angela Plassmann will be holding her first office hours on Saturday, December 12, from 10am to 1pm at the Walter Salvo House (81 Conz Street). Please drop by to share your questions and concerns. She will be in the first floor office. (It's on the right just after you walk in the front door.) Anyone may attend.